“The only penalty youth must pay for its enviable privilege is that of listening to people known, alas, to be older and alleged to be wiser.”

A playful observation about the uneasy relationship between youth and age. · Speech, Values in Life, 1907

• Age
• Humour
• Youth

“It is one thing to write and quite another thing to read.”

Drawing a simple but important distinction between creating and receiving literature. · Speech, The Uses of Reading, 1912

• Literature
• Reading
• Writing

“When his demon urges a man of letters to work, he may do so without any regard to wages or the sentiments of his fellow-workers.”

Describing the irresistible inner compulsion that can drive writers to create. · Speech, The Handicaps of Letters, 1908

• Creativity
• Work
• Writing